Muscle Protein Synthesis
Conditions
Keywords
Aging, Muscle protein synthesis, Leucine
Brief summary
Sarcopenia describes the progressive decline of muscle mass and strength with advancing age and is associated with increased frailty and morbidity, however we do not currently have an effective treatment. Protein feeding and exercise is known to increase muscle mass, but aged muscle shows a lower response to these stimuli leading to muscle loss over time. We do know that ingesting leucine, a building block of protein, can overcome this reduced response to protein feeding and exercise leading to increased muscle mass in older people. However, we do not understand when the optimum time to ingest leucine is to maximise muscle mass after exercise in older people. In this study we will examine the effect of feeding leucine after exercise either with a meal or between meals.
Interventions
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTLeucine
Leucine is a dietary supplement that can be easily purchased over the counter at health food stores. It is an essential amino acid and is involved in stimulate muscle protein synthesis.
Sponsors
University of Nottingham
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
MALE
Age
65 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Male, 65-75 years of age * BMI 18-28 kg/m2 * Non smoker * Not performing regular resistance type exercise * Participant is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study
Exclusion criteria
* A BMI \<18 or \>28 kg·m-2 * Active cardiovascular disease: uncontrolled hypertension (BP \> 160/100), angina, heart failure (class III/IV), arrhythmia, right to left cardiac shunt or recent cardiac event * Cerebrovascular disease: previous stroke, aneurysm (large vessel or intracranial) * Respiratory disease including pulmonary hypertension or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) * Metabolic disease: hyper and hypo parathyroidism, untreated hyper and hypothyroidism, Cushing's disease, types 1 or 2 diabetes (treated and untreated), inborn/ congenital errors of metabolism (e.g. phenylketonuria (PKU), galactosaemia) * Active inflammatory bowel disease * Acute infection * Acute or chronic renal disease * Malignancy (or history of malignancy with 5 y) * Recent steroid treatment (within 6 mo), or hormone replacement therapy * Coagulopathy * Musculoskeletal or neurological disorders * Known allergies to any of the product ingredients * Having taken part in a research study in the last 3 months involving invasive procedures or an inconvenience allowance
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Muscle protein synthesis in response to leucine feeding | 7 days | To quantify muscle protein synthesis in response to feeding leucine with a meal or in-between meals using mass spectrometry. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Measure muscle anabolic and catabolic signalling pathways in response to leucine feeding | 7 days | To determine the impacts of leucine feeding timings on muscle anabolic and catabolic signalling pathways using western blotting techniques. |
Countries
United Kingdom
Contacts
CONTACTJoanne Mallinson, PhD
CONTACTMatthew Brook, PhD
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORMatthew Brook, PhD
University of Nottingham
Outcome results
None listed